By Matt Chaban 1/16 12:48pm

Under Development

If you build it, they will come. Promise. (Edward Reed/Flickr)

Midtown East and Manhattan West: Bloomberg, Zucotti Defend Rezoning at Megaproject Groundbreaking

One of the big debates that has been raging around the rezoning of Midtown East is how it might impact development already underway around the city, much of it funded in part by the public sector, and thus taxpayers. Should these projects fail, Joe Public could lose out on his investment.

The World Trade Center and Hudson Yards have been two focal points, but Manhattan West, which broke ground yesterday, ought to be considered, too. While the project’s backers bragged at the groundbreaking about building without public subsidy, they are still competing for the same anchor tenants as their rivals further east. Furthermore, the $2 billion the city contributed to the construction of the 7 train nearby is to be paid back through property taxes on the new projects. No new development, no bond proceeds, big trouble for the city.

Still, Mayor Bloomberg is standing by the decision to fast-track the Midtown rezoning and ensure it gets completed this year. Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/15 5:21pm

Developing Situations

10 Photos

Manhattan West Ho

Manhattan West on the Rise: Brookfield Breaks Ground on 60-Story Twin Towers

For the second time in as many months, Mayor Michael Bloomberg trekked out the Far West Side for a groundbreaking on a major new development built over a set of railroad tracks. While Brookfield’s Manhattan West is not quite as big as The Related Company’s Hudson Yards, in its size and scale and heft and sheer exclamation of the arrival of this once derelict corner of the city, the project measures up pound for pound. Some 5.4 million square feet of offices and housing and shopping on not much more than one city block.

“With today’s groundbreaking, we’re taking a major step forward in the transformation and rebirth of the Far West Side of Manhattan,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said from the podium at the corner of 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue. Read More

By Anna Sanders 10/14/11 1:08pm

Occupy Wall Street

Screen Shot 2011-10-14 at 10.05.24 AM

Geraldo Rivera Talks Occupy Wall Street On Fox & Friends: ‘Let the freezing rain drive them away’

After Brookfield announced this morning it will postpone the evacuation (or, as the protestors said, “eviction”) of Zuccotti Park for cleaning , Fox & Friends spoke with Geraldo Rivera, Liberty Plaza reporter and Geraldo at Large host. Mr. Rivera expressed some sympathy for the protestors, explaining, “There is a tremendous frustration and fear for the first time.” But, he added, “they are flailing around for someone to blame.” Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 9/13/11 12:53pm

the sit-down

mitchrudin_1

Mitch Rudin’s Quarterly Report

In June, Mitch Rudin took the reins as Brookfield Office Properties’s president and C.E.O. of U.S. Commercial Operations following news that Ric Clark would relinquish his role as president of the Canadian firm, which controls downtown’s World Financial Center, while remaining on as C.E.O. of corporate operations. Last week, Mr. Rudin, 58, assessed his progress.

The Commercial Observer: So, why don’t you assess your progress over your first 60 days at Brookfield?

Mr. Rudin: It’s been terrific. I wouldn’t quite call this my midterm report card, but I’ve been here for two months, and to the extent that there have been any surprises they’ve all been pleasant.

What kind of surprises? Read More

By Sridhar Pappu 5/06/02 12:00am

After All That, Journal Re-Ups At Its Old Home

After seriously considering a move to midtown, Dow Jones, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal , told Off the Record this week that the company will keep its and the newspaper’s headquarters in lower Manhattan.

It is unclear where Dow Jones and The Journal will resettle downtown. Companyexecutivessay they’re keen to return to Read More

By Gabriel Snyder 10/01/01 12:00am

A Web Site With the Inside Dope on the Middle East

No matter how much President

George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld plead that their new war

on terrorism will require a severe clampdown on media access, the public’s

appetite for up-to-the-minute leaks and inside reporting shows no sign of

abating.

Part of this is generational,

of course. Lines like Mr. Rumsfeld’s “the Read More

By Andrew Rice 11/20/00 12:00am

The Tower Broker: Zuccotti Makes Bid for Trade Center

An innocuous-looking government report sits on a shelf in

John Zuccotti’s office on the sixth floor of One Liberty Plaza. Published in

1981, The Future of the World Trade

Center represents the findings of a blue-ribbon panel chaired by Mr.

Zuccotti, a former deputy mayor who was then settling into life as a

high-powered private Read More